Jan. 6 Insurrection Anniversary: Where MD Cases Stand 2 Years Later

MARYLAND — In the two years since the violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, more than 900 people have been charged with crimes, including at least 15 from Maryland, and the House select committee investigating the insurrection has recommended that Trump and some of his allies also be criminally charged.

FBI agents and federal prosecutors claim some of the Maryland residents charged in the riot beat a D.C. police officer with a metal pole, while others aren't accused of physical violence but of pushing their way into the Capitol, taking photos and video that delayed certification of the presidential election. Several arrests have been made in the last three months, including a man with a record of marijuana sales whom the FBI said smoked weed in the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Search the Justice Department’s database of suspects charge in the Capitol breach.

In Maryland, defendants in court this year include:

Christopher Michael Alberts: Police officers spotted Alberts at the Capitol with a handgun on his right hip; he wore a bulletproof vest and had a backpack. A 9mm handgun was taken by officers, along with two 12-round magazines. Inside the backpack was a gas mask, pocketknife, and a first-aid medical kit.

He was charged with Carrying a Pistol without a License, Possession of a firearm on Capital Grounds, Curfew Violation, Possession of Unregistered Ammunition, and Possession of a High Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device.

He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

John D. Andries: The St. Mary's County man, 35, pleaded guilty to all charges on Aug. 23, 2022. A witness recognized Andries inside the Capitol in the news and in a YouTube video and tipped the FBI, saying Andries had served in the military and has multiple arrests, USA Today said. He was charged with knowlingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds.

Cynthia Catherine Ballenger: An anonymous tip led the FBI to Ballenger and her husband, John Christopher Price. The tipster said the couple posted videos and pictures from Jan.6, but removed them. Charging documents said Price posted on Facebook that he and Ballenger traveled from Emmitsburg to Union Station in Washington D.C. on Jan.6. Capitol surveillance footage shows the couple entering through the Senate Carriage door. Ballenger reportedly admitted to the FBI that she was at the Capitol but said they were not there when property was damaged or officers assaulted.

She is charged with being in a restricted building or grounds and violent entry or disorderly conduct. In September 2022, the couple sought a change of venue for their trial, CBS News reported.

Christopher John Price: Ballenger's husband is charged with being in a restricted building or grounds and violent entry or disorderly conduct. According to charging documents, he texted a friend from the Capitol, including photos of the broken glass and crowds inside the building. When the friend texted that Trump asked for a peaceful demonstration, Price replied, "Worth fighting for Trump."

No trial date has been set.

Bryan Betancur (aka Bryan Clooney, aka Maximo Clooney): An affidavit in support of his charges described Betancur as a "self-professed white supremacist who told law enforcement officers that he is a member of several white supremacy organizations" and that after his release he "continued to engage racially motivated violent extremist groups on the internet."

Probation officials approved Betancur's request the day before the riot to go to Washington, D.C., to distribute Bibles. His GPS monitor showed him near the Capitol for three hours on the afternoon of Jan. 6, when the riot was happening, and social media photos show him with a Confederate flag on the scaffolding set up for the inauguration, according to court records.

He is charged with restricted buildings or grounds; Unlawful activities on Capitol grounds, disorderly conduct; Unlawful activities on Capitol grounds, parades, assemblages and display of flags. Betancur pleaded guilty on May 5, 2022, and in August was sentenced to 4 months incarceration, 12 months’ supervised release, and $500 restitution.

Stacy Bond: The FBI received a tip that Bond had claimed to be at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and reviewed Metropolitan Police Department body camera footage from the riot that showed Bond on the Upper West Terrace area in front of the fight between

police and protestors. He was arrested May 26, 2022, and pleaded guilty Sept. 23 to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. The charge carried a maximum punishment of six months in prison, five years probation and a $5,000 fine.

Matthew Ryan Miller: The Cooksville resident was identified to the FBI by a tipster as someone who discharged a fire extinguisher on the steps leading to a Capitol entrance Jan. 6. He was shown in photos wearing a black cowboy hat, a Washington Capitals jersey, a backpack, a Maryland state flag and a yellow flag with a black "Don't tread on me" symbol and lettering known as the Gadsden flag, USA Today said.

Miller was charged with: civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; aiding and abetting; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted Building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; and stepping, climbing, removing, or injuring property on the Capitol Grounds.

He pleaded guilty on Feb. 9, 2022, and was sentenced May 23 to 33 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and $2,000 restitution.

Scott Miller: Body-worn camera footage from Metropolitan Police Department officers, and public source video from the U.S. Capitol showed that Miller, of Smithsburg, assaulted multiple police officers and stole a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield while outside an entrance to the building on the Lower West Terrace, referred to as “the tunnel,” prosecutors said.

He was charged with assault of a federal officer, civil disorder, theft of government property, unlawful entry on restricted buildings or grounds, and disorderly conduct, among other charges. Authorities said Miller struck a police officer repeatedly with a metal pole.

No trial date has been set.

Paul Modrell: Modrell, of Columbia, entered the Senate wing of the building, and took photos and video of the chamber, according to the FBI. On Dec. 20, 2022, he was charged with four crimes: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

No trial date has been set.

Narayana Rheiner: Court documents said that prosecutors and Rheiner, of Baltimore, agreed that she drove to Washington, D.C., to protest Congress’ certification of the Electoral College and attended the “Stop the Steal” rally and then marched with others to the Capitol. Rheiner went to the front of the police line at one point, grabbed a riot shield out of a police officer’s hands, and the officer fell on the ground. She was part of a group of rioters who tried to enter a hallway that was blocked by police, and had chemical spray used on them.

Documents said Rheiner yelled at the police, “You know how many times I've been sprayed today?" and “Why don’t you just go home!” She left the Capitol building through a broken window on the South side of the Senate Wing door.

She was arrested March 2, 2022, and pleaded guilty Nov. 4 to obstructing law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. The plea agreement carries a maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment; a fine of $250,000; supervised release of not more than three years.

Zachariah John Sattler: A family member of the Chestertown resident told someone that Sattler, who had a felony conviction for distribution of marijuana, was inside the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021 and smoked marijuana while inside the building.

The FBI complaint said Sattler was part of a large mob that breached the exterior door on the eastern side of the building near the Rotunda entrance on the second floor of the Capitol building. Once inside, Sattler shouted, celebrated, and urged the crowd to move further inside the building. Video showed him saying he "wanted to go hang out with the Proud Boys."

On Dec. 9, 2022, he was charged with four crimes: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

No trial date has been set.

Jacob Therres: The Fallston resident was at the Capitol Jan. 6 with his stepfather, Douglas Wyatt, the FBI said, and is accused of throwing a wood plank at a group of police officers. A tipster told investigators that Therres picked up a taser from the ground and tasered four people who were likely police officers.

On April 5, 2022, the FBI interviewed someone with close contact to Therries, who said he had been vocal in his social circle of being at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and inflicting violence on police officers, with potentially a taser.

Therres was arrested Nov. 14, 2022, on charges of: assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. No trial date has been set.

Douglas Wyatt: The FBI received tips that Wyatt was at the Capitol and had posted about it on Facebook. An attorney for Wyatt on April 6, 2021, emailed the agency: “Mr. Wyatt did not go into the Capital building on January 6, did not assault a law enforcement officer, nor anyone else that day, and was not engaged in the destruction of any property.”

Video footage and photos in the aftermath of the riot showed Wyatt was involved in multiple assaults of law enforcement officers with an unknown chemical spray on the lower west terrace of the Capitol, the FBI said. One video reportedly showed Wyatt deploying an unknown spray into the crowd and toward law enforcement officers right after rioters brokethrough a police
line and barriers.

Wyatt was arrested Nov. 14, 2022, on charges of: assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds without authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. No trial date has been set.

David Walls-Kaufman: Court records list him as a Crofton resident and a Washington, D.C., resident. The FBI said Walls-Kaufman was initially identified after he was named in a civil lawsuit about the riot by civilian investigators who run a website called Sedition Hunters. Evidence in the lawsuit were images that showed him in a scuffle with law enforcement officers.

Court documents said Walls-Kaufman joined in large groups, chanted when he was inside, and wandered through the U.S. Capitol hallways, including the Rotunda, Statuary Hall, east stairs and upper House door area before being forced to exit.

He was arrested June 8, 2022, on charges of: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

No trial date has been set.

John Clarence Wilkerson IV: The Street resident was initially charged on four counts: Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building; Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building.

He pleaded guilty in August 2021 to the fourth charge: parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Wilkerson was sentenced to 36 months probation, a $2,500 fine, $500 restitution and 60 hours of community service.

The violent siege on the Capitol two years ago was an attempt to stop the certification of electoral votes declaring Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. It resulted in the deaths of five people during or soon after the attack, including two Capitol police officers and one rioter. About 140 police officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department were assaulted in the attack, according to the Justice Department.

It was the first in U.S. history that the transfer of power from one administration to another was not peaceful. In a speech before rioters attacked the Capitol, Trump repeated the same claims he had been making in the two months since the election that it had been stolen, then urged his supporters to walk from the rally site on the National Mall to the Capitol.

Biden is expected to mark the two-year anniversary of the insurrection with remarks Friday in the East Room of the White House, according to a schedule released Monday by his office. The White House did not provide details, according to reports from The Hill and others.

In a blistering criticism of the insurrection last year, Biden did not mention Trump by name, but squarely blamed the “defeated president” for the attack he said raised global concerns about the future of American democracy.

During its sweeping nearly 18-month investigation, the Jan. 6 committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained more than a million pages of documents before releasing its 814-page report last month.

The panel came to the unanimous conclusion that Trump coordinated a “conspiracy” on multiple levels, pressuring states, federal officials and lawmakers to try to overturn his defeat, and inspired a violent mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol and interrupt the certification of Biden’s win.

Chairman Bernie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, called the final report a “roadmap to justice” for Trump, whose actions leading up to the insurrection were the nearly singular focus of the committee.

“Donald Trump lit that fire,” Thompson wrote in the committee’s final report. “But in the weeks beforehand, the kindling he ultimately ignited was amassed in plain sight.”

The committee’s criminal referral asks the Justice Department to consider charges against Trump related to inciting an insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and obstruction of an official proceeding. The referral is largely symbolic, and the Justice Department is under no obligation to comply with recommendations in the unprecedented referral.

Witnesses, who ranged from many of Trump’s closest aides to law enforcement officers to some of the rioters themselves, detailed Trump’s “premeditated” actions ahead of the attack and told the committee how his wide-ranging efforts to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In the months, weeks and days leading up to Jan. 6, “stop the steal” rallies built on the former president’s unsubstantiated accusations were held in Trump strongholds and swing states. The first was four days after the 2020 presidential election, on Nov. 7, 2020, at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, but other notable rallies were held in Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and North Carolina.

From Jan. 5-7, 2021, Trump supporters staged 39 “stop the steal” protests in their state capitals, according to a report from the Bridging Divides Initiative, a project of Princeton University

The attack promoted the most expansive federal law enforcement investigation in U.S. history. The FBI has offered a reward of up to $500,000 for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for placing pipe bombs in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021. The agency is still seeking the public’s help to identify people pictured in 1,433 photos taken the day of the insurrection.

Less than half (335) of the cases have been adjudicated and the defendants have received their sentences, including 185 who have been sentenced to incarceration.

Among the most closely watched trials was that of Oath Keepers leaders Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, who were found guilty of seditious conspiracy — the most serious of the charges so far — in late November.

Three of their co-defendants were acquitted of the charge. Four other individuals have pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy charges, the most serious of those filed so far in the investigation.

Seditious conspiracy charges reflect the Justice Department’s belief that the Capitol breach was a grave threat to the operation of the U.S. government.

Under the rarely-used federal seditious conspiracy law, enacted after the American Civil War, charges are filed when two or more people plot to “overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the United States or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States. …”

As the federal criminal cases continue, the FBI is continuing to ask the public’s help in finding others who participated in the attack, which cell phone technology made one of the most documented crimes in U.S. history. Many of the Justice Department’s cases have been built on video footage of the attack, social media posts, phone location data and tips from the public, and federal prosecutors say hundreds more cases could be filed.

Trials will continue this year and perhaps into 2024.